Management / Our People

At CCFA, we are proud to be producing, distributing and marketing iconic brands for the betterment of customers, partners and team members in ACT, NSW South Coast and NSW Riverina, from our base in Canberra. We have passionate, dedicated team who take pride in what they do every day, to produce the freshest milk we can make and getting it to your local supermarket, convenience store, coffee shop… as soon as we can, so that you can enjoy all of the nutritious dairy goodness from brands like Canberra Milk, Dairy Farmers, DARE, Moove, Dairy Farmers Classic to name a few.

We appreciate that everyone has a choice, every time that they go shopping and we hope that people are as passionate and proud of where their products come from, as we are. Being the only milk processing facility in ACT and servicing the needs of NSW South Coast & NSW Riverina with their beloved Dairy Farmers brand, made right here in Canberra, we rely upon the ongoing support and trust that consumer place in our brands. Because that support underpins over 70 jobs in Canberra and helps maintain the viability of one of the last iconic regional brands in Canberra Milk.

And we appreciate that ongoing support, every day and in turn we ensure that we are helping out supporting local sporting bodies and organisations, including NRL Canberra Raiders since their inception in 1982 – including being the front of jersey sponsor when they last won the Premiership in 1994, Super Rugby ACT Brumbies since their inception in 1996 – including being first front of jersey sponsor with the iconic MILK jersey, ABL Canberra Cavalry since 2012, Canberra Agricultural Show since 2002, supporting the then Snowy Hydro South Care helicopter service for over 18 years and representing over $1.5 million in donations, which ended in March 2017 with the new service being implemented to help care for the needs of NSW & ACT, started supporting DVCS and W-League Canberra United in 2016, to name a few. In addition we also aim to help as many local events as we can including 20 events each year including local fetes, school fundraising, charities. We are also proud to support 15 schools with free milk every week to support their breakfast programs, helping our disadvantaged kids. We also support the Early Morning Centre in Canberra with milk each week, supporting those who sleep rough and helping them with a place to get a meal, training courses and other means to help them find a new path.

We could not do what we do without the ongoing support and guidance from our two owners in Lion Dairy & Drinks and Bega. Who allow us to leverage their best in class operations for our business in Canberra but who also allow us to be who we need to be, so that we can meet the needs and expectations of our Customers and adorers of our brands in ACT, NSW South Coast & NSW Riverina.

Thank you for your interest in our business at CCFA and our brands and we are working hard to ensure that these brands and products are available for you to continue to enjoy them for years to come.

Regards,

David Tyack

Managing Director CCFA

May 2017

Executive Board Team

David Tyack - Managing Director, CCFA

David Tyack joined CCFA in October 2015, initially as General Manager and was subsequently appointed to the CCFA Board and role of Managing Director 12 months later. David has extensive experience in the food and beverage industries both locally in Australia and overseas. Prior to joining CCFA, David was living in Melbourne and working as Consultant after 22 years in General Management, Sales and Marketing roles at Lion Dairy & Drinks, National Foods, The Coca-Cola Company, Campbell Arnott’s and King Island Dairies.

Completing a Bachelor of Education at University of Melbourne in 1993, David started his career in Sales for King Island Dairies before moving to Campbell Soups in late 1996. Moving through a variety of Sales & Category Management roles in both Campbell Soups Australia and Arnott’s, David joined The Coca-Cola Company in their Sydney office in 2001. David’s last role was managing the Subway Account across the Asia Pacific region as part of their Global Account Team headquartered in Atlanta, GA before a move back to his hometown of Melbourne in 2006. Which triggered a move to then National Foods, which is now known as LION Dairy & Drinks business unit, during which David held a number of roles across Customers Marketing, White Milk Business Unit, Brand Marketing and Grocery Field Sales, before taking the leap into setting up his own consultancy business in 2013.

Darryn is an experienced senior marketing and commercial director with over 25 years’ experience working within the FMCG industry. Prior to joining Lion Dairy & Drinks in 2016 as the Marketing Director, Darryn has held a variety of senior marketing and commercial roles with Cadbury, Schweppes and Asahi operating in the Australian Beverage and Food market place. Darryn was appointed the Marketing & Innovation Director of Lion Dairy & Drinks in October 2016. Alongside his current role Darryn has also served across industry bodies most recently as Chair of Fruit Juice Australia and a Director of The Australian Beverage Council.

Darryn is passionate about reinvigorating heritage brands, and developing strong customer relationships as well as building new brands, partnerships and teams, and is excited by the growth opportunities that lie ahead for Lion Dairy & Drinks business and its respective business partners.

Barry Irvin has extensive experience in the dairy industry and has been Chairman of Bega Cheese since 2000. Barry's leadership has seen Bega Cheese grow from a small regionally based dairy company to now one of the largest dairy companies in Australia, supplying a large range of dairy products in Australia and around the world.

Barry's depth of knowledge of the industry includes a significant understanding of the issues affecting Australian dairy farmers, the key investments required to meet changing consumer needs and the management of long term customer relationships.

Barry was awarded the NAB Agribusiness Leader of the Year in 2009 and the Rabobank Leadership Award for 2011. Barry is very aware of the importance of social responsibility, he has been Chairman of Giant Steps, an organisation providing services to children and young adults with autism since 2002. In 2008 Barry was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for contributions to children with disability and the Australia dairy industry

Kathy was appointed Managing Director Lion Dairy & Drinks in December 2017.

She joined the Lion (then National Foods) business in 2006 and since then has held a number of senior financial and operational planning roles and led complex change programs within the Lion Dairy & Drinks (LDD) business. In 2013, Kathy was appointed as Finance Director for the business, including accountability for agricultural procurement. In 2016 she was also took on the role of Managing Director of Adjacent Business Units, being the Lion Speciality Cheese, Lion Dairy NZ and Vitasoy Australia businesses and in 2017 was appointed Managing Director for the Lion Dairy and Drinks business, for Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Kathy is a strong people leader with an inclusive leadership style and has deep experience in strategy, commercial finance and integrated business planning. She has also led several key transformation projects including the introduction of an integrated LDD planning process, the relocation of the Business Solutions function, the sale of LDD’s everyday cheese business in 2015 and the minority acquisition of the Remedy Drinks business in 2018.

Prior to joining Lion, Kathy worked in finance and strategy roles with large multinationals including BHP and ABB International. Kathy has a passion for supporting the homeless and together with her husband she operated crisis accommodation facilities in Melbourne for 20 years. In 2002, Kathy took a break from corporate life and managed the crisis accommodation facilities for three years, working together with local, state and federal government bodies to develop accommodation and drug rehabilitation programs for the homeless in Melbourne.

Colin Griffin - Chief Financial Officer & CCFA Board Member

Colin Griffin is a representative of Bega Cheese Limited in the Capitol Chilled Foods joint venture. Colin Griffin played a key role in the establishment of Capitol Chilled Foods and has been a director since it was created in 1997. Colin is the CFO of Bega Cheese and has led the finance function of that group since 1993. Colin and his team are responsible for all management and statutory reporting, treasury and capital management, Information Technology, legal and ASX compliance and supporting the Executive Chairman and CEO in strategic planning, corporate activities and M&A. Prior to joining Bega Cheese Colin worked with KPMG in Sydney in audit and advisory, focusing on M&A, valuations, independent expert reports, privatizations and other corporate advisory services.

Thisuni is a highly experienced commercial lawyer, valued business partner and was appointed as General Counsel Lion Dairy & Drinks (LDD) Executive in January 2018. She is also a member of the Capital Chilled Foods (Australia) board. CCFA is a joint venture between Lion Dairy & Drinks and Bega Cheese.

Thisuni has a wealth of generalist legal experience gained from working in-house and also in private practice, government and the higher education sector. Thisuni started her career as the Legal Associate to the President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (now the Fair Work Commission) and then worked in-house at Monash University. She then moved into private practice, advising major clients like Origin Energy, Boral, the State Government of Victoria and John Holland on all aspects of employment law and industrial relations.

Thisuni joined Lion in 2011 and has held several senior legal positions, supporting strategic initiatives in agricultural procurement, supply chain, logistics, marketing, sales, finance, HR, corporate and Lion’s dairy business in Asia. Thisuni prides herself on providing quality legal advice, which balances the commercial and strategic imperatives of her many stakeholders.

Thisuni is passionate about collaborative leadership, working cross functionally across Lion’s many operational divisions and driving commercially focused outcomes.